Up until the final days of the 2010 legislative session, Georgia was about to become the only state in the union without an arts council. The Georgia House had dropped all funding for the arts and it wasn't until the State Senate, under the leadership of Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Hill (R-Reidsville), stepped in and restored $860,000 for the Georgia Council for the Arts. That money will allow the state agency to qualify for federal and state matching arts grants.

At town hall meetings, events in my district and even trips to the grocery store, it's clear that main street America is frustrated with an out of touch Washington. The people who come up to me aren't angry as much as they are worried about the future of our country.

May 26, 2010|
By U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston
Special to the Courier
|Opinion

This past week a number of residents from Bryan County and Richmond Hill attended a workshop sponsored by three organizations dedicated to the preservation of our state's natural environment and specifically the preservation of our state waters.

Kathy Cox has resigned as state school superintendent to take a new job in Washington. I have no way of knowing who will win the post this fall, but I do know that what public education lacks more than dollars is a strong and effective advocate. No one - not Cox, not the State Board of Education, not the Georgia School Board Association, not the Georgia Association of Educators and the Professional Association of Georgia Educators, not the Georgia School Superintendents Association, not the charter school groups, not the city and county school boards, not the governor, not the General Assembly ...

In light of the recent tragedy with local Alzheimer's patient Elvin Mosley, the Bryan County Project Lifesaver Program is now in the forefront. The program is a rapid response public safety program that helps protect and locate persons who are prone to wander. Designed to track and rescue those with cognitive conditions who tend to wander, this service answers a critical need for protecting people at risk of wandering, including those with Alzheimer's, autism, Down syndrome, dementia and other disorders.

It was a one-two punch for our fishermen and their families last month. Less than a day apart, the state agency in charge of issuing pollution permits gave the green light to two proposed coal fired power plants in south Georgia. The government gave pollution permits to these coal plants which would allow them to emit approximately 9,000 pounds of mercury to our air over their 50-year life span.